One of the problems associated with the use of sanitary napkins has been their disposal. Used napkins are unattractive and can be messy. Attempts to provide disposal aids have generally followed one of several directions. The first of these involves the use of a bag or bag-like attachment affixed to or a part of a sanitary napkin. Examples of various embodiments of this approach can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,336--Black, 3,604,423--Fraser and 3,274,999--Robinson.
The self-contained bag has been unsuccessful for a variety of reasons. The self-contained bag is on the bottom of the napkin and therefore must, by its nature interfere with adhesive attachment of the napkin to the panty. Also, a napkin with such a self-contained bag is both expensive and difficult to manufacture.
Another alternative involves the utilization of adhesive areas at the longitudinal ends of the garment facing side of the napkin. These adhesive areas may be covered by an extension or an added element and after the napkin is used, it is rolled into a tightly wound cylinder with the adhesive tab being used to fasten the roll. This approach, while simpler from a manufacturing standpoint, still involves the use of a separate tab and the user of the napkin must touch the soiled napkin to be able to roll it. Also, extremely thick napkins are difficult to roll because of limited flexibility. The pressure involved in rolling a napkin can , in certain instance, provide for fluid "strikeback" through the wrapper of the napkin. For this reason a disposal system of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,626,945--Mobley has met with little success.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,742,903--Lightner and 4,072,151--Levine have a structure which places adhesive on the body-facing side of the sanitary napkin for direct attachment to the wearer.
Another alternative disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,689--Baum --is a sanitary napkin having an absorbent layer wrapped with a fluid permeable wrap and provided with a baffle approximately twice the width of the conventional baffle. The baffle is attached to the bottom of the outside portion of the wrap so that the baffle is fully exposed. The baffle is also folded over onto itself. The fold is maintained in place by positioning means such as an adhesive area and the garment facing side of the folded baffle is provided with garment suspension adhesive or other attachment means. After the napkin is used the baffle is unfolded with the free flap positioned over the top portion of the napkin and attached by adhesive or other means to either the wrap or the opposite side of the baffle. The used portion of the napkin is at least partially visually screened and the napkin can be readily disposed of without the user having to touch the soiled napkin surface.
It has been proposed that disposable diapers be provided with draw strings. In U.K. Patent Application 2,001,236--Pigneul--a diaper is provided with adjustable strings which allow tightening of the crotch area after the diaper is placed on the infant.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,760--Amirsakis--discloses a disposable diaper that may be turned inside out to form a bag for the used diaper. The bag may be provided with a draw string to pull the bag around the diaper.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,024,788--Lane--discloses a catamenial device that is provided with an integral bag that may be used in disposal of the device. The bag further has a draw string to close it after covering the sanitary napkin.